by Simon Daish
Some of England’s top players were on show at the Championships with the likes of Paul and Joanna Drinkhall and Tin-Tin Ho all competing for the chance to win silverware at the three day tournament.
Speaking to the Table Tennis England website the President of the ETTU Ronald Kramer said that he was pleased to see the English Championships continue to evolve in a positive direction for the sport.
“I think it’s wonderful. You see top-level table tennis, top players, the organisation is getting better and better. You are making remarkable progress in a number of ways and I was very interested to see your National Championships and how they are evolving”, Ronald Kramer.
The 2017 English Championships were well attended, and table tennis fans who weren’t able to travel to the venue were still able to keep up with the action with the competition being streamed live on TheSPORTbible’s Facebook page.
One of the key aspects of the event that impressed Ronald Kramer was the well planned organisation of the competition, and the President of the ETTU believes that the successful running of National Championships is extremely important for the sport.
“National Championships are very important because that’s where your team comes together, all the people in your organisation. For the promotion of your game and the development of your sport, these Championships are very important, including what happens around the Championships. We had volunteers who were celebrated here and many events take place around National Championships which highlight the importance of table tennis”, Ronald Kramer.
English table tennis has very much been on the rise over the past couple of years, with arguably the highlight moment coming at the Perfect 2016 World Team Championships where the squad of Paul Drinkhall, Liam Pitchford and Samuel Walker stunned the world as they led England to a bronze medal finish in the Championships Division of the Men’s Team tournament.
All three of England’s bronze medal winning players were also participating at the 2017 English National Championships, and Ronald Kramer is very excited by the overall progress of the country’s table tennis set up in recent years.
“… You have some very inspirational players at the moment. You need people to connect to (as heroes) and some are so far away but these are nearer, you can watch them, shake their hands, you can get their autograph. A lot is happening around English table tennis at the moment and it gives me a chance to meet other people as well, and I learn. That’s one thing you should do as a president – keep in touch with what is happening – and a lot is happening here in England”, Ronald Kramer.